On the left and right alike — and even in the middle, political pundits and reporters are offering lots of slants these days about the corner into which Republicans have painted themselves with regard to the fiscal-cliff stalemate.

Let’s peruse a few, shall we?

On the right, John Podhoretz of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post says THIS:

Republicans have a bad hand to play when it comes to the “fiscal cliff” coming up Jan. 1, when taxes will rise automatically on everyone and whopping defense cuts will be imposed automatically.